Letitia James, the Black woman who is New York state attorney general, was applauded after releasing horrific video capturing the merciless beating of a 43-year-old handcuffed Black man by White corrections officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in New York.
She also vowed a vigorous investigation into the death of Robert Brooks, after the unwarranted beatdown inside a facility with a history of abuses, lawsuits and complaints from inmates.
We will soon see how strong the investigation will be now that Ms. James has recused her office from the case. She is calling for the appointment of a White special prosecutor, who is also Republican.
It seems Ms. James was facing a possible conflict because some of the guards who might be prosecuted for the in-custody death of Mr. Brooks are being defended by the state attorney general’s office. They are accused of abusing other prisoners.
Corrections officers Matthew Galliher, Anthony Farina, Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Nicholas Kieffer, Robert Kessler, Michael Fisher, Christopher Walrath, Michael Along, Shea Schoff and David Walters were identified as being part of the Brooks encounter.
Mr. Farina has resigned.
Others in the examining room during the violent thrashing of a clearly helpless man include Sgt. Michael Mashaw, Sgt. Glenn Trombley and nurse Kyle Dashnaw. Everyone was suspended without pay, according to the state corrections department.

“My Office of Special Investigation investigates matters where an officer of the law may have caused the death of a civilian. As part of our Office of Special Investigation cases, we do internal conflicts checks.
After obtaining video and identifying the officers involved in the incident, we conducted this standard check,” said Ms. James. “Four of the correction officers under investigation in the Robert Brooks matter are currently defendants in other matters and are being represented by lawyers in the Office of the Attorney General.”
According to CNN, Sgt. Trombly and ex-officer Farina “were named in a complaint filed in federal court in 2022, based on a 2020 incident which occurred at the same prison where Brooks died.
The complaint alleges as another correctional officer beat a handcuffed inmate at the prison, Trombly and Farina ‘looked on and failed to intervene in any manner to prevent or stop the beating,’ leaving the plaintiff with ‘a permanent facial deformity.’”
“A different officer, Nicholas Anzalone, who was named by the department, is also named in a separate federal complaint in 2022, stating he joined an assault on an inmate by another correctional officer at the same facility.
The complaint alleges the officer was involved in a cover-up fabricating disciplinary charges against the inmate, who was left with ‘substantial physical and mental injuries.’ The case is still ongoing,” said CNN.
“The inmate’s attorney, Katie Rosenfeld, told CNN her client was ‘brutally assaulted in 2020 at Marcy CF, the same prison where Robert Brooks was just murdered (involving) one of the same corrections officers.”
The state attorney general’s early January exit from the case brings up troubling questions: One, should we expect a vigorous look at and prosecution in the death of Mr. Brooks? Ms. James has asked Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick to take over the case as allowed by state law.
Mr. Fitzpatrick won reelection in 2023. He is serving his ninth term as a district attorney having been first elected in 1991. This may also be his last term.
What are some issues he ran on?
“Fitzpatrick recently has been rallying against bail reform and the ‘Raise the Age’ law passed by New York State. The ‘Raise the Age’ law was passed in 2017 and allows 16-year-old and 17-year-old minors who commit serious crimes to go to juvenile detention centers instead of adult facilities.

The state has also passed a series of bail reforms that eliminate bail for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies,” reported a Syracuse, N.Y., website, www.localsyr.com, two years ago. Those aren’t positions taken by reformers.
Mr. Fitzpatrick was also endorsed by the National Association of Police Organizations, Inc./Syracuse Police Benevolent Association and the Onondaga County Deputy Sheriffs’ Police Association, Inc.
“I used to fight crime w my pal DA William Fitzpatrick – DA in Onondaga County NY- still the best crime fighter around,” chirped Judge Jeanine Pirro, a MAGA stalwart, Fox News host and former Westchester, N.Y. prosecutor to go alongside a selfie with her “pal” posted on Facebook during his 2023 reelection run.
Onondaga County is just over 75 percent White. In 2022, the New York ACLU said Blacks in the county were convicted 10.2 more times than Whites.
Body cam videos weren’t turned on by the correctional officers but in standby mode captured the hogtied, defenseless Black man, being beaten, kicked, held by the neck, punched in the groin, slammed and tossed around. Mr. Brooks died Dec. 10, a day after arriving at the prison near Utica, N.Y. He was moved there for his safety.
Corrections officers dragged him into an examination room where the cold-blooded assault took place.
Other troubling questions: Without the body cam video would we even know Robert Brooks’ name, let alone be pushing for some justice in his death?
Naba’a Muhammad is editor-in-chief of The Final Call newspaper. He can be reached via www.finalcall.com and [email protected]. Find him on Facebook. Follow @RMfinalcall on X and Instagram.